Found in swamps, bogs, and just about any soaked depressions in the forests can be found the Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus. This is one of the first plants to come up in the Spring and can found sometimes as early as late January. It’s an unusual plant in that it generates its own heat. The temperature of the plant’s central flower cone can sometimes be 30° higher than the outside air, day or night. When light snow falls in the spring where these plants grow, it’s not unusual to find that they have melted small patches surrounding the base of the plant.

And yes, they do smell funky…hence the name…